Senate Bill 182 was meant to be a convenience for Hoosiers, but it quickly developed into a controversial, discriminatory and an unnecessary hurdle for Indiana’s 27,600 transgender residents.
Originally, state Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, authored Senate Bill 182 with the intent of giving Hoosiers the ability to access their driver’s licenses on their mobile phone. It passed the Senate with bipartisan support from Republican authors Sens. Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, and Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso.
However, upon reaching the House, Rep. Holli Sullivan, R-Evansville, added an amendment to the bill that would no longer allow Hoosiers to present a doctor’s certification to change their gender on their licenses. Instead they must now amend their birth certificate and present it to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Sullivan wants the birth certificate to be the sole document that establishes gender identity at the BMV.
Unfortunately, the process of changing your gender on your birth certificate is lengthy, overwhelming and opens the door for discrimination against transgender individuals. It includes multiple doctor and therapist visits, lawyers and a court order. Some transgenders even have to pay a local newspaper to print their name and the fact that they changed their gender.
This process can be expensive and can cause severe emotional trauma to an individual by making what should be a personal medical decision the center of debate, according to Katie Blair, the Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
“The ACLU is urging Indiana elected officials to stop interfering with trans and nonbinary Hoosiers’ access to accurate government issued identification," Blair said.
The GOP's amendment comes just a week after the BMV changed its policy to allow people to put a third nonbinary option “X” on their driver’s licenses. Many senators such as Sen. J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis, believe this was a deliberate move by House Republicans to undermine the recent BMV policy change.
“When you want to change your name, you are not required to have your birth certificate match that name — gender should be no different,” Ford said.
Sullivan, the chairperson on the House Roads and Transportation Committee, does not want to give the BMV discretion to make medical decisions. However, examining a doctor’s finding or prognosis that was completed on an official State of Indiana form is not making a medical decision. It is the same process used to issue handicap placards to put on car rearview mirrors.
After seeing his bill evolve into a piece of legislation that could possibly serve as the basis for discrimination against transgender individuals, Melton has made his displeasure known.
“I wanted to create a pathway to help Hoosiers with the convenience of a mobile license, but this amendment will only hurt individuals," Melton said.
In response to the GOP's amendment Rep. Chris Chyung, D-Dyer, has written an amendment that will allow residents to use a birth certificate or a doctor’s note to change their gender on a driver’s license. This amendment will be up for revision by members of the House this week.
With the recent removal of sexual orientation and gender from the failed hate crimes bill, the GOP-proposed amendment to SB 182 is a result of a larger pattern of interference by some Republican lawmakers to the rights of transgender persons.
Not having the correct gender on a driver’s license can prevent someone from air travel, job applications, loan services, receiving government entitlements such as Social Security and even voting.
Going forward, resolving this discrepancy should be the primary focus of any further bills or amendments passed by the legislature instead of restricting access to accurate government identification.
If transgender students need assistance in a government identification matter, help can be found at the LGBT Law Project at the Maurer School of Law or Student Legal Services.
You can find your individual representative to offer your approval or disapproval for SB 182 here.
